Christmas Market
by DustyStars
Summary: 'Burgess Christmas market was one of the highlights of the year. Stallholders from all around the world would come to share their wares with the public, and tourists from miles around would travel to look around the colourful tents and stalls.' Emma and Jack visit the owl enclosure, but Jack ends up with a lot more than he expected. Fluffy HiJack one-shot, made more fluffy by owls!


**Just a little HiJack one-shot based on Lincoln Christmas market that me and my parents go to every year. They have an owl enclosure there and I was holding one when this idea was born.**

 **Enjoy this silly little fluffy one-shot I wrote at 12.30am!**

 **Disclaimer- I don't own HTTYD, RotG or any owls.**

 _DustyStars_

"Jack!"

The boy in question turned at the sound of his name, eyes falling upon his younger sister, Emma.

"Yes?" he said, smiling slightly.

"Can we go to the owl enclosure now?"

Jack looked at his watch, it was still quite early on, there would definitely be crowds there.

"I dunno, Em. It'll be pretty busy, are you sure you wouldn't rather go when it's quieter?"

The young brunette's face fell as she looked at her older brother with pleading eyes, and it wasn't long before he cracked and laughed, allowing her to drag him through the crowded market.

Burgess Christmas market was one of the highlights of the year. Stallholders from all around the world would come to share their wares with the public, and tourists from miles around would travel to look around the colourful tents and stalls. Every year Jack and Emma would accompany their parents around the packed market, but this year they were visiting an old friend, so Jack had been left in charge of his little sister with strict instructions not to let her out of sight.

So far he was doing a pretty good job.

Jack was a rather distinguishable seventeen year old boy, fairly tall, bright blue eyes and natural brown hair, which he had dyed white two years ago as a dare, then decided that he actually rather liked it and kept it. Emma on the other hand was short for her age, and though they shared the same natural hair colour her eyes were brown where Jack's were blue. She was also the most curious ten year old Jack knew, but he still loved her more than anything.

The two siblings had been wandering the market for about an hour when Emma decided she wanted to go and see the owls. Every year a group of four or five people would come to the market to show the often unseen birds of prey to the general public, allowing people to have their photos taken with them and generally raising awareness of them.

Every year Jack and Emma's parents would let them look at the enclosure but never allow them up close, much to Emma's dismay. This year was going to be different though, for Jack had promised that they would get to see them properly before they left.

"Come on, Jack!" the young girl said, pulling on her brother's hand. "We've been here for an hour already!"

Jack laughed at his sister's eagerness and let her lead the way. They passed by all of the stalls they had already seen, some selling interesting breads and cheeses, others selling jewellery and crafts, yet more selling beautiful paintings and fabrics. If Jack hadn't been here so many times before he was sure he would have spent forever simply taking in the sights.

By now the two knew their way around the whole market, so it wasn't a surprise to him when Emma ducked into a side street by way of a shortcut. Within minutes they were stood by the enclosure, and about a hundred people stood between them and the ring where the birds were kept.

"What did I tell you?" Jack said, raising an eyebrow as Emma tried to stand on tiptoe to see above the crowd. "Far too crowded this early- we should come back later."

"Jaaaaack."

The white-haired boy just smiled and shook his head, turning away to see if he could find a gap in the crowd, letting go of Emma's hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight. After a few seconds of searching he concluded that there was nowhere to move to, and turned back to his sister-

Only to find she wasn't there.

"Emma?" he said, voice raising nervously. "Emma, where are you?"

He swore under his breath before diving into the crowd in an attempt to find his sibling. Honestly, she promised to stick by him then did this? Brilliant.

Jack ducked through yet more people before suddenly banging into something hard. Looking around sheepishly he straightened up to find he had somehow made it to the front of the crowd. The owl enclosure was in plain sight and yep, Emma was over the other side, talking to one of the people running it!

"Dammit!"

He had half a mind to climb into the enclosure and cross it to get to her, but one look at the owl owners convinced him otherwise. There was a tough looking blonde woman with a braid down the right side of her face, a set of blonde twins who were at that moment playing with two of the biggest owls he had ever seen, a plump guy who was talking to some of the kids and a dark-haired guy who was leaning against the side of the tent, eyes narrowed.

Nope, seemed he would have to piss off the general public and go the long way round.

Several "Excuse me"'s and "Oops, sorry!"s, and even a "I didn't even see your baby!", Jack finally made it to where Emma was standing. Now, however, she was holding an owl proudly on her left arm and having her photo taken by one of the owners.

"Emma!"

The girl was caught by surprise and turned her head just as the flash went off.

"Jack, you ruined the photo!"

An eyebrow raised as Jack moved forward.

"I said we could get a photo later, why did you run off and leave me? I told Mum and Dad I wouldn't let you out of my sight!" Jack said, voice raising slightly out of worry.

Emma's eyes widened slightly before she ducked her head. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I just wanted to see them."

"I know, Em. But don't worry me like that again," Jack said, and his sister nodded vigorously.

"Um, excuse me?" a voice said and Jack turned to see the person who had been taking the photograph lowering his camera.

He had shoulder-length brown hair with a couple of braids behind his right ear, and the light made it look as though there were slight coppery tints to it. He was dressed simply- brown jeans and a green hoodie, but what Jack couldn't help but notice was that he had bright green eyes in a shade he had never seen before. In short he was gorgeous, and it took Jack a few seconds to realise he was staring.

"Um," he said brilliantly. "Hi."

The other boy, who looked around eighteen or nineteen, blushed slightly before setting the camera down.

"I take it this is your sister?" he asked, nodding at Emma.

Before Jack could reply said sister was already talking.

"This is Jack," she said smiling. "Jack, this is Hiccup. He's from Berk! He showed me all the owls and let me hold Stormfly." She gestured to the medium-sized owl on her arm, who gave her the practiced look of a bored owl.

Jack chuckled on seeing his sister so excited before turning the boy- Hiccup.

"So you're from Berk?" he asked, pleased he had regained the ability to speak English.

"Yeah," Hiccup replied. "This is my first year coming here though. I'm actually staying here for a couple of weeks after the market is over though."

"Really?" Jack asked, trying not to sound too eager. He might even get to see the cutie around Burgess!

"Yep, doing some research here in the library for a bit," Hiccup said before turning his attention to Emma and Stormfly, who were apparently having a staring contest.

"Aw cool, what on?"

"Well, you know, things," Hiccup said vaguely, finally managing to extract Stormfly from Emma. The blonde girl with the braid came over and took the owl away from Hiccup, giving him a smile as she did so. Jack's heart sank.

"Girlfriend?" he asked, nodding towards the blonde.

"What? Astrid? No way," Hiccup said, laughing. "We're just friends, nothing going on there."

"I see."

The two boys stood in awkward silence for a few seconds as Emma leaned over the enclosure to look at the nearest owl.

"So, the picture," Jack said quickly to fill the silence. "Emma and Stormfly?"

"Oh that," the brunet said. "Well she turned at just the wrong moment so it didn't come out well. I would say you can take another one but there's a lot of people waiting…"

Jack looked behind him and noticed the queue of people waiting of photos.

"Oops," he said, running a hand through his hair sheepishly.

Emma had apparently heard Hiccup's last sentence because she looked away from the owl enclosure, eyes wide.

"You mean I didn't get a picture?" She looked as though she was about to cry.

Jack was about to say something, though he didn't really know what, when the boy next to him intervened.

"Well, Emma. If you come back later when everyone else is gone I might be able to introduce you to a very special owl," he said quietly, so both siblings had to lean in to hear him. "He's my own best bud and he doesn't come out very often, but I think you might like to meet him."

Emma's eyes widened with delight before she turned to Jack.

"Can we?" she asked imploringly.

"Hmmm," Jack said, pretending to think about it. "I suppose we can-"

He was cut off by Emma hugging him.

"Thank you, Jack! You're the best brother ever!"

"I know, I know," he laughed before turning to Hiccup, suddenly shy. "So… See you later then?"

"Later," the other boy said, giving him a smile as he brushed a hand through his hair.

Jack could feel his pale cheeks heat up in a blush as he turned away, and he couldn't stop his lips from turning up in a smile of his own.

They spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon wandering around the market. They had lunch in the same little coffee shop they went to with their parents and Emma persuaded him to try some of the more exotic cheeses from one of the stalls. After a lot of coughing and silent cursing the pair made their way to the 'Medieval Market', a part of the market where the stallholders all dressed up and sold replicas of objects from ages gone by.

Jack bought Emma a necklace in the shape of a dragon and let her try a sip of his mulled cider that he bought from an outside stall. They queued for a few minutes to enter the undercroft of the old stables where yet more stalls were situated. One stall that his parents had never allowed the pair to visit sold the strangest combination of weapons and hand-blown glass.

While Emma busied herself looking at tiny glass figurines Jack's gaze was caught by a long staff propped up next to a rack of swords and daggers. It was straight except for the top, which curled around almost in a 'C' shape, and its brown surface was streaked with blue.

Five minutes later the two emerged from the undercroft, Emma with a small glass hedgehog clasped in her hand, and Jack the proud new owner of the staff.

It was nearing sunset and most of the crowds had dissipated when Emma and Jack headed back to the owl enclosure. Hiccup was still there, this time involved in a group talk with the rest of the owners. He broke ranks with them as they drew near, however, and Jack let Emma's hand go so she could run to meet him.

"Do I get to see your owl now?" she was asking as Jack caught up with her.

"Yes indeed," Hiccup said with a grin. "Are you coming too, Jack?"

He looked straight up at Jack, who seemed to have momentarily forgotten how to breathe as he once again noticed the other boy's eyes. They really were beautiful.

"Jack?"

"Oh, uh, sure," he said, silently cursing his inability to form a coherent sentence once again.

Hiccup nodded and walked over to a small tent on the edge of the enclosure, the siblings following close behind. When he reached the entrance Hiccup told them to wait and stepped inside. He was only gone for a few seconds before his head popped out again.

"Emma, Jack, I'd like you to meet Toothless, my best friend."

He stepped out, and on his arm was a completely black owl. It was a little smaller than Stormfly but one look at it showed that it was built for speed. Its eyes were green like its owners, but whereas Hiccup's were bright, Toothless' eyes were almost luminous, and had flecks of yellow in them.

Jack could have sworn that if owls could mimic human expressions, this one would be raising an eyebrow at them.

"He's beautiful," Emma breathed next to him, and both Hiccup and Toothless turned to look at her.

"He's a very intelligent owl," Hiccup said, smiling. "Sometimes I think he can understand what I'm saying."

"He looks so fluffy," Emma said, and Toothless let out a dignified squawk, as though to say,' How dare you call me that!'

The three of them laughed before Hiccup said, "Would you like to hold him?"

Emma nodded vigorously.

The owl owner carefully pulled a protective glove from his pocket and gave it to Emma before transferring Toothess to her arm. He sat there, unmoving, until the young girl slowly put her other arm up as though to pet him. Hiccup seemed about to say something when the owl suddenly bend its head, forming a contact between itself and Emma.

"Wow," Emma breathed as Toothless straightened up again. "That was amazing."

Satisfied that his owl was in safe hands Hiccup turned to Jack.

"Nice staff," he commented, gesturing to Jack's newest possession, which was currently resting next to him. "From the Medieval Market I'm guessing."

The white-haired boy nodded.

"I don't know why but when I saw it I just had to have it."

Hiccup smiled. "I know what you mean. I actually found Toothless in a forest one day. He had injured his wing somehow, and I knew when I saw him that I had to keep him. We've been together since then."

"Wow," Jack said, impressed. "That's pretty incredible. You must have a way with owls then."

"You could say that."

There was another silence as the two watched Emma playing with Toothless, who was now stretching his wings as though he was about to take flight. Watching Hiccup out of the corner of his eye, Jack decided to bite the bullet.

"So you're going to be in Burgess for a while then?" he asked

"Yeah," Hiccup said slowly, attention still focussed on the pair in front of him.

"Do you fancy having someone to guide you around?" Jack asked, proud that his voice didn't crack. "I know the area pretty well and there are some nice places that aren't in guide books. I mean only if you want to."

Hiccup turned his gaze to Jack now, giving him his full attention, and the white-haired boy was surprised to see the trace of a blush forming on his face.

"That would be nice, Jack," Hiccup said quietly, the beginnings of a smile playing on his lips. "I do need someone to look after Toothless while I'm researching as well," he added.

Emma looked away from said owl when she heard that, eyes lighting up, and Jack answered her question before she could even ask it.

"I think I could volunteer a candidate," he said, causing Emma's face to stretch into the biggest grin he had seen all day.

"Brilliant," Hiccup laughed. "They do seem to have bonded very well."

"That they do," Jack agreed.

"So," Hiccup said after a moments pause. "Where do we start?"

"You could start by giving me your number," Jack said hopefully. "And then there's this really great coffee shop I think you would like, we could go there tomorrow if you're free."

Hiccup blushed again slightly and smiled. "Depends if I can get an owl-sitter," he replied, loud enough for Emma to hear.

"I'll do it!" she said immediately, causing both boys to laugh.

"Alright then," Hiccup said before leaning in close to Jack, and whispering, "It's a date then."

The date went wonderfully, and a second one was planned.

At the end of the fourth date, Jack asked Hiccup to be his boyfriend, and Hiccup said yes.

And after the seventh date, Hiccup decided he and Toothless might stay in Burgess a little longer after all.


End file.
